The problem with most medical students is that they've never been really sick. Now some are learning what it's like to be chronically ill

Claire Brickell, 25, an aspiring neurologist in her third year at Harvard Medical School, already knows far more about health care than most of us. She can diagnose heart failure from a chest X ray. She can diagram the intricate circuits of the brain. And if she needed to, she could probably pull off a pretty decent tracheotomy. But when it comes to communicating with patients, Brickell has a problem: she's too healthy. Like most of her classmates, she has spent very little time as a patient. She has never had to weigh the advice of a trusted friend against conflicting orders...